The morchella esculenta is about to harvest at Jinzhu township in Suichang county, Lishui. [Photo/lsnews.com.cn]

At Jinzhu township in Suichang county -- administered by Lishui city in East China's Zhejiang province -- the mushroom morchella esculenta has become a new industry that has brought boundless opportunities to local farmers, according to reports in the local media.

Morchella esculenta is a species of fungus in the family Morchellaceae of the Ascomycota. It is one of the most recognized of all the edible mushrooms and is highly sought after -- being also a medicinal fungus, which has been included in the bible of traditional Chinese medicine, the Compendium of Materia Medica.

In November 2019, Jinzhu town joined hands with the Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University, Zhejiang and experimentally planted four varieties of morchella at Yecun village in Jinzhu.

The 2,666 square meters of mushrooms had a bumper harvest in March the following year.

"Based on the success of last year's trial planting, we expanded the planting area to 16,000 sq m this year," said Tu Zhiguang, who is in charge of the plantation.

With a yield of about 225 kilograms per 1,000 square meters, the plantation can bring in about 600,000 yuan ($92,891) of net income, Tu said.

The most important thing is that it only takes about four months from planting to production. The time is short and the benefits are high, Tu added.

Town officials said that the town will strengthen its partnership with the Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University and form a morchella-themed agricultural innovation trial planting base that also integrates tourism.